“Jesus and the book of Acts are the standard for normal Christianity…when Christians tell me that they want to live like Jesus, I like to ask if they have multiplied food, healed the sick, walked on water, raised the dead, paid their taxes with fish money, or calmed storms?” Jonathan Welton “Normal Christianity”, p.14
This is a quote from Jonathan Welton’s book, “Normal Christianity: If Jesus is Normal, What is the Church?” I highly recommend this book. The author will challenge your notion of “normal” in your Christian experience, and he also encourages us with all the good things going on when he talks about seven cultural shifts he sees happening in the Body of Christ today.
The reason I’m recommending this book is because it’s visionary and timely. What Welton describes about the paradigm shifts happening in the body of Christ really resonates with what God has been doing in me personally over the last few years, as well as from my perspective as a leader of a local church. I’m also seeing this shift in many other places around the world. Some of what I’ve experienced are found in what I share in this blog.
Here’s how Jonathan Welton explains the difference being “average” and being “normal” and how it pertains to our current Christian paradigm.
“Average is the mathematical form of estimating…normal is based on comparing with the ideal. For instance, a normal human being has 10 fingers and 10 toes. Notice that I am not saying that the average person has 10 fingers and 1o toes…Jesus is the example of normal for the Christian. To be different from Jesus in any way is to be an aberration from the standard set by His life. Most Christians process their lives through averages, comparing their spirituality against the backdrop of neighbors, friends, their church, and relatives.” (P.16 – emphasis mine)
Welton lists seven areas where God is upgrading the Church in this hour. Some are listed on the promo video for the book below. Check it out.
In My Father's House 
Awesome, I need to read this.
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